Lampard: I really hate to rotate, says Chelsea midfield dynamo

The England and Chelsea midfielder has witnessed the club's rise founded on Jose Mourinho's principle of a strong and settled side and fears the club's assault on four major trophies will end in tears if the manager tries to be too cute with his team selection.

"I don't know how much rotation there will be in the future but it's important we get a settled team in the run-in," warned Lampard.

"Any good team I've been involved in has had a pretty settled line-up and it'll be down to the manager to find that.

"It's easy to talk about fresh legs, which we have at the minute, but we need to perform as a team.

"The great thing is that we have a lot of strong players fit and ready to play. If we can perform with all the talented players in our squad we can do what we want to do."

Grant's man-management skills are being tested at a time when police are investigating an anti-Semitic death threat posted to him at the club's training ground in a package containing a white powder, which turned out to be harmless.

There were also threats against his wife, Tzofit, in a letter opened by Chelsea staff while Grant and the team were in Athens.

Grant opted to start with John Terry and Lampard on the bench against Olympiacos on Tuesday but the England pair hope to be recalled for Sunday's Carling Cup Final.

Lampard said: "The manager didn't want to take a chance on me and John. We understood the reasons. You have to be mature as a professional and understand that. But it doesn't mean you can't be frustrated.

"Any top player wants to play. I feel very fresh and have a lot in my legs. I never normally have injuries and have missed three months of the season. I don't want to miss any more."

Lampard is used to playing 50-plus club games a season but a thigh problem has limited him to 24. Joe Cole has appeared most often, with 36 games, and Shaun Wright-Phillips has 34.

Michael Ballack has faith in Grant to make the right calls. The German said: "It is not easy when you come back, you can't play every game straight away. JT and Lampsy played on Saturday. The coach has a lot of experience. He knows."

Lampard said: "It's very important that we keep competing for four trophies but it's no good being nearly there in every one of them."

First is the Carling Cup final against Spurs and Lampard added: "It's a trophy we've had a lot of success in and have won it twice. We know the good feeling it gives you for the rest of the season but it will be very tough."

The goalless draw against Olympiacos leaves Chelsea cautiously confident of reaching the last eight.

It is two years since they were beaten at home in any competition — 2-1 by Barcelona — but the Greeks will go through on away goals if they secure a score draw.

"Nil-nil is a dangerous result," admitted Ballack. "One mistake could be crucial but we are strong at home and will take more risks."

Olympiacos skipper Predrag Djordjevic said: "We will look to score and if we manage to do that we will have high hopes of getting to the quarter-finals."

Chelsea will reveal their results for the 2006-07 financial year today, which will include some of the £30million outlay on Andriy Shevchenko. The previous year they recorded an £80.2m loss.

NIL DESPERANDUM?

It doesn't look good for Avram Grant and Chelsea after their 0-0 draw in Greece.

English clubs have drawn 0-0 in the first legs of their Champions League knockout ties four times but only one has gone through.

Manchester United went out to Monaco (1997) and Real Madrid (2000).

Leeds crashed 3-0 in Valencia (2001) but Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 in the 2005 semi-final.